Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Culture Shock

A list of things that need some getting used to...

Fish bowl syndrome
You are different and everyone knows it so they pay attention to you. There is no anonymity like the big cities in America. People know your name and you have no idea why and they all want to know what the American is doing. They will follow you and ask you for gifts and assume you are the richest person in the world. Although you are the richest person they have probably ever met just by being an American.

Nassarani
Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. Since no one in our group was Muslim, we are all just "The Nassarani," or Christian. My family was good about respecting my views but a lot of other people kept going through conversion attempts. I certainly don't like having my identity boiled down to my religion. Although I know many American's do the exact same thing...

Women
Women are very limited in what they can do. Your hair should be covered. If you are not in a skirt you are not seen as a woman, I would be seen as a man. There is no physical contact between a man in a woman. I can't shake someone's hand unless he offers it to me first. Her main purpose is to grow up and get married to make lots of babies. It is a very restrictive culture.

Heat
The heat is pretty much unbearable between the months of May through October and the hours of 11-5. This is nap time for a big bulk of the country. Triple digits are normal and expected every single day during these months. And since there is no air conditioning and a lot of the time no fans there is no where to run to cool off. Beads of sweat falling down my face by just moving 3 feet has become a daily occurrence for me.

Toilet
Going to the restroom is an adventure. My toilet is a hole in the ground with two stones that you step on top of. You have to squat and balance to aim into the hole. Then you use a makaresh, which looks like a big teapot to clean. Always use your left hand to wipe. Which is why you only offer your right hand to greet. Otherwise you'd be offending them. Toilet paper is pretty much non exsistent. You do get used to that shower fresh feeling, though!

Food
Depending on where you are and what season it is, not all food is avaliable. How I wish I had a Wal-mart. I live so far inland I would never eat fresh fish. However, carrots are popular here. :) And since I live in a village, goat is the main subsistence. Which is quite hard for a vegetarian.


Just a small list of things that would be hard for an American to get used to. But hey, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! Just be grateful of running water, electricity, and supermarkets!

3 comments:

RNROCKSTAR said...

Well congrats on becoming an official volunteer! I knew you would make it through! Now the real work begins. Their culture is very restrictive because of a lack of exposure to "main stream" dilution. It can be good and bad, bad because they probably practice customs from the early 700's...lol. But I am sure you will adjust with no problem, and I hope you will loose all the attention of being the "American", that just makes me a little uneasy. Dude, Hurricane IKE butt fucked Houston. Everything is ok for the most part, but still OUCH!

love, miss you, and e-hug!

Anonymous said...

hey sum sum, I'm just sitting in my room studying and decided to check on you via the internet. It's like midnight here, so it'd be like 5am for you if I called. Heather and I have been talking about all the crazy shit you told us, so now we're like, "anytime I feel impatient, or hot, or like suffering, I think of what Summer is going through, and it puts a whole new perspective."
Ramadan is over today, and I was thinking, "Good! No one can be cranky around Summer!"
Anyhow, mike got me an xbox 360 for my bday, so that was cool. I've been thinking about what you told me like every night, and tried to imagine it. It's pretty hard, I gotta tell you. I'm sure in some ways you can admire the independence and serenity around you. You're probably getting pretty crafty and creating something fun to do on the spot. We've been brainstorming about what to send you to help pass the time. I've come up with a game for myself - I slouch back on the couch, and my gut sticks up. I push it like jello, and say, "Go away." So far it hasn't worked. Ok, I've taken a long enough break from homework. It'll probably be a week or month when you get to read this, hehe.

Much love and God bless,
-Bribri

Santos + Martin said...

Summer...stop plugging the evil empire known as Walmart!

You're too funny and a badass. We are very lucky to be women in America.

I will think of the shower fresh feeling next time I wipe my ass.

Kristine